Apartments, office, retail proposed for Park East site

A mixed-use development with apartments, offices and retail space is being proposed for a county-owned site in downtown Milwaukee's Park East strip.

Opus Development Corp. and Mercy Housing Lakefront Inc. are offering to buy the 2.3-acre site, a vacant block bordered by Water St., Broadway, Ogden Ave. and Milwaukee St., for $2.5 million, said County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic.

The development, which would include a parking structure, would generate an estimated $750,000 to $1 million in annual property taxes, Dimitrijevic said Wednesday. It would create around 100 construction jobs, and the same number of retail and office jobs, she said.

I hope to get more details on the proposal for an updated article at JSOnline, and Thursday's print edition.

At least some of the apartments would be financed in part with federal tax credits for affordable housing. Those credits require developers to lease apartments at below-market rents to people earning no more than 60% of the area median income.

The credits are provided through an annual competition by the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. Chicago-based Mercy has done several tax credits apartment developments, including some in Milwaukee.

The developers will comply with the county's Park East Redevelopment Compact, which includes wage and hiring standards. Opus and Mercy also have set additional goals, including devoting 40% of the construction hours worked on the project to county residents, Dimitrijevic said.

That shows that those wage and hiring standards are working, she said.

"People want to invest in Milwaukee County," said Dimitrijevic. She said two other developers responded to the county's request for proposals on the site.

The County Board's Committee on Economic and Community Development is to review the proposed land sale at its July 15 meeting.

The sale price is well below the parcel's appraised value of $3.2 million.

The tract is on a slope just west of the Park East block where Wangard Partners Inc. plans to break ground this summer on the first phase of its Park East Square apartments. It is northeast of where the Milwaukee School of Engineering is finishing a parking structure and collegiate soccer field in the Park East strip.

Commercial Real Estate News

Two packaging companies, both owned by Quad/Graphics Inc., are planning to expand their neighboring facilities in Franklin, according to information filed with the city.

Transpak Corp. and Proteus Packaging Corp. both operate on World Packaging Circle, a cul-de-sac within Franklin Business Park, south of W. Ryan Road and west of S. Oakwood Park Drive. Both companies moved to Franklin from Milwaukee in 2007, and were sold to Quad in 2013.

Transpak's services include export, domestic and military packaging, as well as product distribution. It operates a 300,000-square-foot facility, according to the company's website.